page_title: Ettore DeGrazia
section_title: Art career: early years
hierarchical_section_title: Ettore DeGrazia / Art career: early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken at the first studio circa. 1947
context_page_description: Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia was an American impressionist, painter, sculptor, composer, actor, director, designer, architect, jeweler, and lithographer. Described as "the world's most reproduced artist", DeGrazia is known for his colorful images of Native American children of the American Southwest and other Western scenes. DeGrazia also painted several series of exhibitions like the Papago Legends, Padre Kino, Cabeza de Vaca.
context_section_description: DeGrazia remembered well the criticism he received in those early days from people who thought his art wasn't any good. Individuals did not like how DeGrazia followed his own rules in regards to art. On one occasion, DeGrazia was sitting in Rosita's Mexican restaurant (located next to his gallery) and a man walked in and shouted to him from across the room. He said," Hey! You DeGrazia?!" DeGrazia did not reply, and kept talking with his friend. The man, who obviously did not like DeGrazia, strode over to DeGrazia's table and interrupted him. He said to DeGrazia, "You're that guy who thinks you can paint on whatever you want, right?- No rules, you just do whatever you want!" DeGrazia still did not say anything. There was a basket of tortillas on the table, so DeGrazia took one out and began to paint it. When he finished, he took his brush and he autographed the angry man's clean, white shirt. Before the man stormed out, cursing at DeGrazia, the only thing DeGrazia said to him was, "Now I have painted on everything." The man did not bother to take his original tortilla painting with him, so DeGrazia kept it and it is also on display at the Gallery In the Sun.
  In 1946 DeGrazia and Alexandra were divorced. One year later, DeGrazia married Marion Sheret in a small chapel, deep in the jungles of Mexico. With his marriage to Marion, the door was opened to establish his greatest achievement, the Gallery In the Sun.
  By the late forties, the city of Tucson began encroaching on DeGrazia's gallery. He felt cramped with so many people moving to Tucson and he wanted to escape its growth. In 1949, he bought 10 acres of land in the Santa Catalina Foothills, north of Tucson. At this time there was no electricity, water, or services. All supplies that they needed had to be transported from Tucson. They cooked their food in an old wood-burning stove and took showers outside with water from a bucket. Little by little, construction companies began to bulldoze the big saguaro cacti around him to build homes, businesses, and even a country club. This saddened DeGrazia.
caption: Ted and Marion DeGrazia in front of DeGrazia's first gallery c. 1940s
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